Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback

Charlie Riedel, John Hanna / Associated Press

What happened: The incident began Nov. 21, when Kansas teenager Emma Sullivan attended a Youth in Government program at the state Capitol. At the event, she tweeted: "Just made mean comments at gov brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot." In reality, she made no such comment to Gov. Sam Brownback. But staff members contacted the youth program, word eventually went downhill, and Sullivan was called to her school principal's office. There, the principal told her to send Brownback a letter of apology and even suggested talking points for the note she was to hand in by a Monday deadline, Sullivan said. The apology: "My staff overreacted to this tweet, and for that I apologize," Brownback posted on his Facebook page. "Freedom of speech is among our most treasured freedoms."

What happened: The incident began Nov. 21, when Kansas teenager Emma Sullivan attended a Youth in Government program at the state Capitol. At the event, she tweeted: "Just made mean comments at gov brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot." In reality, she made no such comment to Gov. Sam Brownback. But staff members contacted the youth program, word eventually went downhill, and Sullivan was called to her school principal's office. There, the principal told her to send Brownback a letter of apology and even suggested talking points for the note she was to hand in by a Monday deadline, Sullivan said. The apology: "My staff overreacted to this tweet, and for that I apologize," Brownback posted on his Facebook page. "Freedom of speech is among our most treasured freedoms." (Charlie Riedel, John Hanna / Associated Press)

What happened: The incident began Nov. 21, when Kansas teenager Emma Sullivan attended a Youth in Government program at the state Capitol. At the event, she tweeted: "Just made mean comments at gov brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot." In reality, she made no such comment to Gov. Sam Brownback. But staff members contacted the youth program, word eventually went downhill, and Sullivan was called to her school principal's office. There, the principal told her to send Brownback a letter of apology and even suggested talking points for the note she was to hand in by a Monday deadline, Sullivan said. The apology: "My staff overreacted to this tweet, and for that I apologize," Brownback posted on his Facebook page. "Freedom of speech is among our most treasured freedoms."